Citizen-Times correspondent

WHERE TO BUY

In this mecca of small businesses and producers, Asheville’s food entrepreneurs fuel the local economy by encouraging one another’s success.

This point was made clear during a conversation with Dawn Robertson of East Fork Farm on the opening day of the Woodfin indoor winter farmers market, Saturday mornings at Reynolds Village.

East Fork Farm has added pork to its impressive list of pastured poultry and lamb. The pigs are fed by the output of another local entrepreneur — East Fork supplements the pigs’ diets with excess grain from Farm and Sparrow’s artisan bakery.

David Bauer, founder of Farm and Sparrow, is known for his honest approach to baking, just as the Robertsons have become well-known for their honest farming practices.

Farm and Sparrow’s products are made with locally grown grain, milled on site on Bauer’s homestead in Candler. The “middles,” or unusable grain parts, are collected for the Robertsons to feed their pigs.

“For us, the key to raising hogs is finding a reliable, quality feed source that is affordable,” East Fork’s Stephen Robertson said. “Without this source, the hogs are too expensive to raise.”

Bauer’s middles are nutritious additions to the animals’ diet, and feeding them to East Fork’s pigs is also a way to make use of Farm and Sparrow’s waste. It’s the foundation of sustainability, when the circle of production is made stronger through collaboration.

The camaraderie among producers is highest when both parties gain by avoiding waste, and the final product is improved as well, Robertson said. “As in all the animals we raise, I think the quality is a result of how they are raised and what they eat. Having Dave’s organic byproduct is a definite bonus.”

Support within agricultural communities is an age-old practice. As farming villages evolved to specialize, individual producers saw the advantage of each other’s success as a means to strengthen local communities.

This practice is kept alive here in Western North Carolina as, for example, vegetable and fruit growers utilize manure from livestock producers to fortify their soil. Whey from cheese making is used to fatten hogs, along with the large quantities of spent grain mash from Asheville’s many breweries. “The point here is finding alternatives to conventional, high-priced feed,” Robertson said. Not only is Farm and Sparrow’s grain high quality, it can be locally sourced, cutting costs.

East Fork Farm has plans to purchase a community palletizer for local farmers to utilize. “My hope is to convert the middles as well as grass trimmings, hay and other waste to a consistency that other animals can digest,” Robertson said.

While producing products that speak for themselves, this example of community stewardship seems quite digestible indeed.